There's Been An Accident
by L.Daniels
Summary: Reddington receives a phone call while Elizabeth is at work informing him that shes been in an accident. (Lizzington One-Shot)


**It was just after noon when Red's phone began to buzz inside his pocket.**

 **"Mr. Reddington..." a voice said as he answered.**

 **"This is he."**

 **"Mr. Reddington, I'm sorry to have to tell you this-"**

 **"Who is this? Whats going on?"**

 **"Its about your wife..."**

 **"My wife?"**

 **"Mr. Reddington, there's been an accident,"**

 **Red felt his heart sink into his stomach.**

 **"you need to come in."**

* * *

Red ran into the hospital and demanded to know where she was. All the elevators were up so he ran into the stairwell and up 3 floors. When he came out into the hallway he stopped every nurse that he saw and asked if they knew where she was, but nobody did. Until he found one-

"I'm looking for my wife." He said panicked. "Her name is Elizabeth."

"What's the last name?" The woman asked.

"Reddington. Elizabeth Reddington."

The woman flipped through her clipboard and her finger stopped on a name.

"Reddington, Elizabeth. She's in room 304."

"Thank you" he said as he pushed past her and raced down the hallway. As he reached the door, a doctor came out, stopping Raymond as he tried to get into the room.

"I'm sorry sir, but you can't go in there right now." The doctor said holding him back.

"What do you mean? What happened!" Red looked over the doctors shoulder and through the door he could see Liz. Laying on the bed, tubes everywhere. Monitors. He froze. "Lizzie..." He said as the doctor closed the door and escorted him to the waiting room.

Red sat in the waiting room for hours, until finally a nurse called his name.

"Mr. Reddington."

"Yes." He answered, quickly getting to his feet. "My wife. Lizzie?"

"She's stable, but she's coming and going." The nurse said.

"What happened?"

"She was in a car accident." She said, trying to be as sincere as she could, but she couldn't lie. She paused, searching for the words to say, but there was no putting it lightly. "It's bad..."

"My wife, she was pregnant. Lizzie was pregnant." He looked at the nurse and saw something in her eyes that he wished he hadn't seen.

"I'm terribly sorry..." She watched as the life drained out of his face.

"Can I see her..." He said desperately.

She nodded and led him to the room.

She opened the door to let him inside and then left, leaving him alone with her. He stood there in the doorway, frozen. He felt all the air in lungs escape his body all at once as he looked at her lifeless form laying there and at that very second, a piece of him died. He slowly made his way to her side and collapsed to his knees and began to cry. He gently took her hand in his. She was cold. He looked at her face, bruised and cut, but still her face. Her face was still her face, and her hand was still her hand, but it wasn't her. Wasn't the woman he kissed goodbye earlier that morning. A bandage was wrapped around her stomach and there were tubes coming out of her everywhere. She was hooked up to multiple machines. Machines that were breathing for her, beating her heart for her. She was alive, but she was dead.

And Red felt the exact same way…

He pulled up a chair and sat at her side, never letting go of her hand. He sat there, wishing, praying that she wake up. But he was also trying to think of what he would say to her once she did wake. How was he going to tell her? He pulled the chair closer and rested his arms up on the bed, and laid his head down on them. He laid there, never looking away from her and never letting her go.

When the nurse came in to check on her, she saw Red; asleep at her side, still clutching her hand. The nurse walked in, and walked right back out. She knew that room was no place for her in that moment.

Red woke up as he felt the sunlight on his cheek, peering in through the blinds. He opened his eyes, and when he saw her, he remembered where he was, and all that had happened. He sat back in the chair and slowly began to fall asleep again. But something woke him. He could feel her hand tighten around his and he jumped up, kneeled down beside the bed and desperately waited for her to open her eyes.

"Lizzie..." He whispered. "Open your eyes."

The tears slowly began to build up and then roll down his cheeks.

"I need you to wake up. Please, wake up." He pleaded. "Please Lizzie. Wake up."

Just as he was about to give up hope, her eyes began to flutter. And slowly, they began to open. He watched in silence as she tried desperately to open her eyes, but she was so weak.

"Lizzie..." He said one last time and she heard him.

"Ray..." Her voice was low and shaky.

And just like that, he could breathe again.

"I'm here Lizzie." He assured her. "I'm right here."

She weakly squeezed his hand, as if seeing if he were real. If he were really there and not just her imagination. Her eyes opened just enough to where he could see the blue.

"Ahh, there's those beautiful eyes."

* * *

Lizzie gradually became more coherent and was able to speak full sentences by noon. She hadn't been cleared to get up and move around yet, so Red remained at her bedside as she lay there. Red got so caught up in seeing her awake and okay, that he for a brief second forgot that he still hadn't told Lizzie what had happened. But she soon reminded him.

"The baby." She interrupted him as the thought came to her mind. "Is the baby okay?"

She looked into Red's eyes, and she knew. She tried to sit up and was hit with a tidal wave of pain in her stomach.

"Ahhhh!"

"Lizzie. Easy." Red said, trying to settle her.

She reached down and put her hand on her stomach and felt the bandages. She looked at Red and her eyes sank. She yanked the blanket off of her and saw her stomach was wrapped and the tears were immediate.

"No...no...No!" She cried.

Red tried to restrain her, keep her from hurting herself as she thrashed and yelled in her hospital bed.

"Lizzie." He climbed into the bed and wrapped his arms around her tightly, holding her arms close to her center, and he held her as she cried. "Shhhhhhhh. It's okay, Lizzie."

His tears fell upon her shoulder as they fell from his cheeks.

"It's going to be okay."

* * *

Red stayed in the hospital with Lizzie until she was cleared for release. She hadn't spoken a word for days and barely ate anything. She didn't cry either, it was as if she had died, but her body refused to move on, so instead, she was trapped. A prisoner in her own body. Red understood as well as he could understand such a thing. And he knew he'd never fully understand what it is that she must be going through, and he didn't dare try. Instead, he left her be and stood by and did everything he could to make it easier on her.

Besides losing the baby, the accident left her in no condition to walk, or do anything that required minimal movement- so Red had to help her. He carried her around the house, from room to room. Bathed her, fed her. He did it all until she was strong enough to do it herself. And that took weeks.

There are no words to describe the pain that Red felt every day, every hour, every minute. Seeing her this way, weak, broken, and in pain. As much as he wanted to make it all go away, wished it was him and not her, he knew that nothing he did was going to change what had happened.

He would sometimes go out for a short while to get anything she needed, and he always came back with flowers and the hope that today, today he would see her smile again. But when he'd come through the door, there was no greeting, no acknowledgement. She just sat there- empty. Broken. And the flowers he bought slowly began to pile up on the kitchen table and were left to wither away to nothing- just like her...

After weeks of nothing more than silence and blank stares, Liz finally broke her silence.

"I owe you an apology..." She said shamefully. Red looked at her, almost angrily.

"You owe me...nothing."

He didn't know what to say, how could he allow her to take blame for what happened- he couldn't.

"Lizzie," he said taking her hand.

"No." She said. "I shouldn't have shut you out like that. It was selfish..."

Red remained silent, because even though he wasn't angry at her for shutting him out, she was right, she shouldn't have done that to him. He only wanted to help her, be there for her.

"I just can't believe this happened."

She began to cry and Red pulled her to him and she went limp in his arms.

"I know, " he said, holding in his grief. "It's going to take time. But we're going to get through this. I promise you."

"How can promise me that?"

"Because." He said "When something ends, something new will begin. That, I can promise you."

Liz didn't say a word, she just laid there in his arms, and for the first time in weeks- she felt whole again.

The next few weeks were better after that night. They eventually grew back together, we're able to return to their normal routines. Liz still wasn't back to work yet, so she and Red had a lot of time to talk about things, work things out. To help each other understand from each others point of view. And it helped- it helped a lot. Liz was smiling again, laughing. She found herself again. And it was from there, from this new beginning that they would rebuild what had been broken. And not forget what had happened, not run away from the past- but simply move forward from it. And they did. It took time, but they did. Lizzie was walking on her own now, and Red took her on daily walks in the park to strengthen her muscles. And soon, she was going out on her own- running around the park.

The two of them were now closer than they've ever been. They were cooking dinner together every night, and they were once again sleeping in the same bed.

They may never again try to have a child, and they both came to terms with that. For, they figured all they would ever need was the love that only they could provide for one another. A love untainted by lies…a love only they could share.


End file.
